The Ripon-based school, which is one of the UK’s largest with an all-Audi fleet of 760 vehicles, expects most of its A3 e-trons will be used in London, helping to reduce its carbon footprint and cut running costs for instructors. These will be used as conventional driving school cars for those needing an automatic licence. 

The company has also developed its own course for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles, and trained instructors on the technology. Offered alongside its portfolio of additional training for existing drivers, this teaches how to extend battery life, including smooth acceleration and deceleration, use of equipment and maintaining momentum to cut energy usage. 

Three of its A3 e-trons will be available to drive on track at the Fleet World Fleet Show in Silverstone on 12 May, with one-on-one tuition showing how to use the car’s different driving modes to maximise fuel economy. 

“We’ve designed the course for the EVs, as opposed to using somebody else’s,” said Paul Kittrick, operations director at Bill Plant Driving School. “It’s getting people to understand that when you brake you regenerate, and that you can back off the gas rather than braking. It’s an interesting segment but that’s a market that we want to move into on the training side.”